Ejector fork



Oct. 11, 1932. T. s. HUTCHISON 1,882,246

EJECTOR FORK Filed Nov 12, 1931 .7 if v 19.1 12 194 g 7 a mhnmmlmmu MW? 17 9 mom/1s 5. HUTCH/SOM WW6. m

ATTOQ EY Patented Oct. 11, 1932 PATENT or i L THOMAS S. HUTGHISON, OF CHICAGO; ILLINOIS nanoron. ram:

Application filed November 12,1931. semi no. 514,593.

' My inviantionrelates to an improved construction of ejector fork, for use generally, which is particularly applicable to culinary purposes.

. I Bymy invention, I produce an improved construction of fork of the kind referred to, which is freefrom concealed or enclosed parts of any kind, is practically frictionless in operation, contains no springs of any kind 1 l1 whlch can get out of order, whlch is simple in construction and operation and cheap to manufacture and which attlie same time is quite effective in use. V

The above and other objects of my lnven- 1 tionjwillbest appear by reference to the accompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment of my invention, in 'wh1ch Fig. l'illustrates my improved fork in side elevation,

21f Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, j

Fig 3 shows in a view similar to Frg. 1, one manner of holding the parts of the fork. for one purpose,

. Fig. 1 shows in a View similar to Fig; 3, an-

othermanner of holding the parts of the fork for another purpose,

Fig. 5 is asectional View of the partsshown in Figs. 1 and 2 taken along the line 55, f Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the parts shown in Figs. 1 a-nd2 taken along the line 6- 6, and l Y a Y Fig-7 is a top view'of a part of the ejecting member.

32 Similar numerals refer tov similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, my improved 'fork construction consists of a fork member 10 provided with tines. 11, andprovided also M with a handle 12. Theforkmember is preferably of fiatsheet metal of any desired kind, of the shape indicated,-the thicknessof the metal being suflicient to. give the fork" member adesirable degree of stiffness. The shank portion of the fork member is provided with substantially parallel edges as indicated at 13, 1'3 terminating at shoulders 14L,.14= so that the shank portion is'narrowerthan the adjacent portion of the fork member, to 59 receive with. a free sliding fita guidingportion 16 of the ejector member. The guiding portion 16 is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the shank portion 15 of thefork I member, and as more clearly shown inFig. 5', is-provided with 'afslot 16a loosely fitting the shank portion 15 of theffork member. The guiding portion 16' of the ejector member is connected by a strip portion 17 extendingto wards-the tines 11', 11 with an'ejector'plate 18, which, as more clearly shown in'Fig. 6, so is provided 7 with edge notches 18'a,"18a loosely fittingthe tines 11,11, the ejector plate being in a plane substantially perpendicular to'the tines 11,11. A's-shown in Figs. 1 and'Z, the guidingportion 16 is also connected with an operating extension 19 which projects over the handle 12'and is preferably provided with 'ofiset portions 19a and 196-. The handle 12 is preferably provided with a lug 12a. extending there-from towards the ejector extension- 19,7 and in line with thei'oifset; portion 19awhen j the-ejeetorn1ember is in its fully retracted po- I sition. p r

. As a resu-l-tofthe construction described, the off-set portions 19a and 19b f'orma con- 7 venient means for engagement by the thumb of the operator, when the fork is grasped as indicated in Fig. 1, sothat after a desired article hasbeen impaled on the fork, and it is desired to remove the article therefrom, the g0 ejector member may be moved without apprecialolefriction or resistance of any kind,

by engagement of the" thumb with one of the off-set portions 1 9a and 19b, and movement-of the thumb towardsthetin'es ll-of the fork. It will be'no'ted that'the extension 19, by projec-ting over the handle 12 of the fork as de scribed, materially decreases the amount that i thethuinbmust be eXt'ended, froni-the hand 'of'the operator, in moving'the ejector memher as far as the shoulders 14, 14: will permit, 1.

which amount of movement'withtines-of "considerable-length, would otherwise be diffi- I cultto accomplish, particularly for an operatorwith asmall h-andsince when the 'guidportion 16-of the ejector member is in engagementwith the shoulders 14,1 1, it is f necessaryfortheejector plate- 1-8 tobe prac- --tica'lly' at the extreme outer ends of the tines 1:1,. 11-, to insure the] removal of any article carried by the fork. It will be observed, that with an ejecting member constructed so that the portion engaged by the-operator to move it on the fork, is located at the inner end of the handle, or closerto the tines than the inner end of the handle, it is impossible to avoid a very considerable reaching or exstead of having the thumb restfiri its natural position to-grasp the handle 12 ofithe fork,

to' move the thumb-slightly"away from the tines 11, so that it is-within the hand and in engagementwith the off-set portion 19a, so

that thethu mb is ina position to begin the ejecting operation. {As the: thumb-is moved outwardly it naturally rolls on the extension 19, so that when the ejecting operation is partly completed, the thumb moves intoen-V gagement with the ofi-set portion 19b to complete the ejecting operation, and as a result the hand of the operator is not unduly stretched or extended, perfect control of the fork is retainedat all times, and the ejecting operation may be controlled perfectly ac- 4 cording to the physical nature of the articles ,being handled, involving the ease with which they'may be split or injured by handling them.

.' Another important advantageresulting from my construction above described,is illustrated'in- Figs, 3 and 41- As shown in Fig. 3, the thumb of the operator is illustrated as pressing the off-set. portion 19a into engagement with the lug 12a carried by the handle 12, which is a condition readily ef fected by the operator if desired, and readily permitted by the resilient nature ofthe strip portion 17 of the ejectormember. With this condition, .movement of the ejector member .on the fork portion is.prevented,and .jthe fork .may be used in the same manner asthough the ejector member were not a part of it, which is of advantage in some cases. For example, with some articles, the tines 11,11 havebut a slight hold onthe articles, -and;there-' is a constant tendency for the articlesto slip from ffthe tines; In suchca'ses, the slight impact .due to the ejector member dropping against the articles, might be sufi'icientto dislod e them from the fork, and in such cases, hol .ing the ejector-member as described in connection with Fig-.3, prevents such an oc .currence. Again, with certain articles han-j :dled by the fork, it is desirable that'the tines shall not be inserted morethana certain distance into the articles, on account of the danportion19g inconnection with Fig. 3. B

ger of splitting the articles, and in such cases the extension 19 of the ejector member is handled similarly to'the manner described in connection with Fig. 3, excepting that the ejector member is moved towards the tines 11,11 until the off-set portion 19b is in alignmentwith the lug 12a for which condition 'the'extensio'n 19 is pressed into engagement with the lug 12a as described for the off-set this means, I amable to'secure all of the'adtined fork in the same structure.

'The ej ector member-described is preferably made of sheet metal so that it may be formed a single piece,and the outer surfaces of" theoff set portions 19a and'19b arepreferably roughened any convenient manner, to

Jzvantages of a short tined fork and a long facilitate positive engagement of the hadof the operator with them; The strip portion 17 ofthe ejector'member is of sufi'cient width and thickness to" positively operate the ejector plate 18, and yet slender' and re silent enough to yieldfreadily laterally to permit engagement of the off'set portions 19a and 19b withthe lug 12a for a 'slight pressureexerted on theextension portion l9 'of the ejector member, The ejector member is preferably mounted ,on e the fork member- 10, beforethe handle 12 issecured to the shank T15 of the fork member. j The handle "12 is preferably of metal,' ;and mayeither be solid or hollow as desired, and in any event, the handle and shank 15are preferably secured together by Welding or brazingto insure a water tight connection between .thesetwo partsf In this manner, since the material of the handle is continuous and without. per,- forati ons of any kind, andtheconnection-between the handle and, shank 15' is tightly sealed, no opportunity isaflorded for moisture, grease and. organic matter to collect in the joint or in the handle and produce anunhygienic condition, Itwill also be observed ,that thefork member and the'ejector mem her are of extreme simplicity,that all parts of them are readily accessible for cleaning.purposes, and that the device-may be readily 'imanufactured by simple mechanical operations and from inexpensive material;

It will be understoodv that the fork may "be handled in any desired manner and that the ejector member may be operated in any mannerf desired; alsothat the fork may' be made in anydesired size and of any'desired material or, materials, and used for any purl pose for which forks generally'are susceptible of use.

Whilel have shown invention the :particular embodiment 1 above "described, it s will be understood, that I do not limit? myself to this exact construction asI may employ equivalents knowntoithe art" at thetime of the filing of this, application without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: r 1. In an ejector fork, the combination of a fork member having tines and a shank portion, a handle on said shank portion, said handle having a lug extending laterally therefrom, and an ejector member comprising an ejector plate having edge notches in sliding engagement with said tines, a slotted 10 guiding portion freely movable on said shank portion, a strip portion connecting said ejector plate'and said guiding portion, and an extension portion projecting from said guiding portion over said lug, said extension portion having spaced off-set portions for engageinent selectively with said lug for"dif ferent positions of said ejector plate on said tines.

2. In an ejector fork, the combination of a fork member having tines and a shank portion, a handle on said shank portion, said handle having a lug extending laterally therefrom, and an ejector member comprising an ejector plate having edge notches in 35 sliding engagement with said tines, a slotted guiding portion freely movable on said shank portion, a strip portion connecting said ejector plate and said guiding portion, and an extension portion projecting fromsaid guiding portion over said lug, said extension portion having spaced off-set portions for engagement selectively with said lug for 'diiferent positions of said ejector plate on a said tines, the parts of said ejector member in their unstressed condition holding said extension portion out of engagement with said lug, and said strip portion being resilient laterally and yielding for engagement between said lug and a desired one of said oif-set portions.

3. In an ejector fork, the combination of a fork member having tines and a shank porti0n,'a handle on said shank portion, said handle having a lug extending laterally therefrom, and an ejector member comprising an ejector plate having-edge notches in sliding engagement with said tin%, a slotted guiding portion freely movable on said shank portion, a strip portion connecting said ejector plate and said guiding portion, and an extension portion projecting from said guiding portion over said lug, said extension portion having spaced off-set portions for engagement selectively with said lug for different positions of said ejector plate on said tines, said off-set portions providing for successive and continuous engagement there with by the operators hand holding the fork during an ejecting operation. In witness whereof, I hereby subscribe my name this 9th day of November, A. D. 1931.

THOMAS S. HUTCHISON. 

